All hope is not lost for the Vikings.

Though they looked very much like a group that had waved the white flag after a 33-10 home loss to the Green Bay Packers on New Year’s Eve, according to the New York Times simulator, the Vikings still have a 3 percent chance of making the playoffs.

It starts with them finding a way to beat the Detroit Lions on the road on Sunday in the final game of the regular season. That is by no means a guarantee considering the Vikings lost to the Lions 30-24 at home two weeks ago.

Nonetheless, if the Vikings are able to beat the Lions, they would then need the Chicago Bears to beat the Green Bay Packers, the Arizona Cardinals to beat the Seattle Seahawks, and either the Atlanta Falcons to beat the New Orleans Saints or the Carolina Panthers to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

That would be a heck of a parlay in Las Vegas. Especially considering each team that needs to win in that scenario is an underdog.

What exactly would the payout be? Here’s a breakdown:

If somebody were to put $10 on a parlay of the Vikings, Bears, Cardinals, and Falcons all winning their respective games, that person would win a cool $297.42 if it hit.
If somebody were to put $10 on a parlay of the Vikings, Bears, Cardinals, and Panthers all winning their respective games, that person would win an even cooler $377.50 if it hit.
If somebody were to put $10 on a parlay of the Vikings, Bears, Cardinals, Falcons and Panthers all winning their respective games, that person would win a whopping $912.26 if it hit.

The most frustrating part about parlays? All the legs need to hit, and that rarely happens. There are countless horror stories among sports bettors of a parlay blowing up at the last minute.

That explains why the New York Times simulator considers the Vikings such a longshot to make the playoffs at this point. The odds of every single result breaking perfectly in their favor this weekend is minuscule at best. There is literally no margin for error.

“We still do have a chance at the postseason,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said while acknowledging that the Vikings also want to get the “bad taste” out of their mouth after getting embarrassed by the Packers last week. “I imagine our guys will be ready to come back and get to work this week.”

It’s going to take a solid effort from the Vikings. Not only are the Lions still in contention for the No. 2 seed, and thus, preparing to play their starters on Sunday, they are also extremely motivated after a controversial call cost them in a 20-19 loss to the Dallas Cowboys last weekend.

“I’ve got controlled fury, and I’m ready to go,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said. “We’re on a mission. We’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves. We will use this as fuel.”

That could make things tough on the Vikings as well as anybody who wants to bet on them to make the playoffs.

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